A Good Cuppa Joe
by movieholic
Summary: "...now he's gone, and I will never have those moments again.”


**A/N: Was drinking my morning coffee when this came to me. **

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The strong scent of coffee wafted into Eames' nasal passages, causing the little hairs on the back of her neck to dance. She closed her eyes and smiled. Wrapping both hands around the mug, she pulled it closer to her face and allowed the heat to caress her exposed cheek.

A rustle of fabric caused her to look up into the lazy eyed gaze of her partner. He offered her a shy smile and tilted his head, questioning her actions without the words. She scrunched her nose and replaced the mug back on the interrogation room table. "What?"

Bobby's small smile widened fractionally, revealing only the top row of his white teeth. "Uh, nothing. I was just...observing."

Satisfied with his very Goren-like answer, Eames offered him a grin and returned to the file she had been studying previously. However, she couldn't find the concentration she needed due to the large hand that kept appearing just out of her eye line. Looking up with a sigh in her throat, she watched as her partner furrowed his brow and leaned closer towards a file. As she knew it would, his hand snaked around his own mug and found its way to his lips, before being replaced back onto the tabletop.

The sigh escaped, causing her sensitive partner to look up with a questioning glance. Pursing his lips in order to ask her what was wrong, he noticed she was staring at his hand, currently wrapped around the mug he'd been drinking out of. Confused, he looked back at her. "Something wrong?"

Eames began shaking her head before she stopped herself and sighed again. Putting her folder down, she pushed it to the side and said, "Yeah."

Confusion giving way to concern, Bobby copied her movements, before placing his elbows on the table and leaning forward. "What?"

Her gaze flickered to his now abandoned cup, before resting on his peering face. "It's just that...you keep drinking from your coffee every two seconds," she claimed lamely, wishing she could retract the whole thing. She didn't miss how Goren's upper lip twitched in amusement as his began falling back into his chair.

"Are you..." he fished for her feeling towards his actions, settling for, "Annoyed?"

"Well...it's more than that." Eames closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Opening them quickly she managed to surprise herself at how calm she sounded. "You should learn to appreciate the small things in life, Bobby. Like a good cup of coffee," she motioned towards the white mug, noticing he was back to being perplexed. "You keep drinking it like it's water...coffee should be savored, it should be sipped slowly and cherished...because you never really know when everything is going to come to an end."

Leaning forward once again, Bobby cocked his head to the side. "This, this isn't really about the coffee, is it?" His voice was soft and curious, not mocking.

Rolling her shoulders, Eames avoided his steady gaze. Relenting, she sagged in her seat and laced her fingers together. "No...it's just that..." she trailed off frustrated. Bobby looked sympathetic as he waited patiently for her response. Sitting up, she met his stare dead on. "I never appreciated the little things with my husband," she ignored the flicker of surprise on her partner's studious face, opting to plow on. "Not like I should have. And now he's gone, and I will never have those moments again."

Working his mouth in an attempt for an appropriate response, Bobby cleared his throat and tried again. "Uh, Eames, you-you still have those moments. You have the _memories_ of those moments," he clarified. "You can't change the past, and you certainly shouldn't dwell in it, but...but you can still cherish those good moments through memory."

Shaking her head, Eames worked her lips into a soft smile. "All I can say, Bobby, is that I'd appreciate a good cuppa Joe every now and then," she took a slow sip from her mug. She hoped he caught her double meaning, as she settled herself into her chair comfortably.

Reopening the nearest file without so much as a look over at her befuddled partner, she heard rather than saw him lean back into his chair lost in thought. She watched as his hand hesitated around the handle of the mug, and risked a small look in his direction. Bobby closed his eyes, held the mug underneath his button nose, and took a deep breath. Inhaling the aroma carefully, a dimpled smile crept onto his face as he took a slow, careful sip.

After a moment, he looked up from over his mug and met her eyes. Without haven't to say anything, he knew that she understood his message.

_Thank you._

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**End.**

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